Thursday, July 5, 2018

Keeping your Promise to your Reader

Make Mine
Mystery

Linda Lee Kane

July 2018

What is Suspense?

Suspense arises from
our reader's anticipation of what’s about
to occur. They worry, even fear, what will happen to the characters they love.
So always leave the reader hanging at the end of
each chapter. Leave them wanting more.

To build suspense, we
need to raise our reader's concern over
how our POV characters’ plans can go array. Ever hear this comment when talking
books with a friend? Nothing really happened, so
I stopped reading. I’ve put down numerous books for the same reason, and
some by authors who are household names, authors who should know better. But
that’s the thing about suspense. It’s not easy to hold our reader's hostage for 300 pages. By
employing the following techniques,
we have a better shot of grabbing them by the throat. Then it’s just a matter
of not letting go.

“Show that
something terrible is about to happen, then postpone the resolution to sustain
the suspense.” ~ Writer’s Digest

Promises,
Promises

Every book makes a pledge to the reader. The difference between
concept and premise is, something happens to the main POV characters that disrupts their lives. If you’re not familiar
with the difference between concept and
premise, there’s no one better to learn from than Larry Brooks. He has several
posts on the subject.

Rather than asking
yourself, “What should happen next?” Try: “What can I promise that’ll go wrong?
Problems that will bring my characters to their knees.”

The central dramatic
story question promises an intriguing quest.

By making promise
after promise, we keep our readers engaged. Don’t tell the reader, of course.
Instead, hint at the trouble to come; tease the reader into ﬁnding out. Do it
right away, too. We need to establish our CDSQ on the first page. If we
can accomplish it in the ﬁrst paragraph, great.

Every promise, no
matter how minor, should either set up or
pay off a future scene. Once a promise is
paid, make another. The most considerable
promises, like the central dramatic story question, should be paid off in the
climax.

After unknowingly
stealing his trophy box, can Shawnee Daniels a forensic police hacker by day;
cat burglar by night, stop the serial killer who's destroying her life before
he murders everyone she loves?

If your story drags,
it’s often due to the lack of tension and/or suspense. In other words, you
haven’t made your reader worry enough. How can we ﬁx a dragging plot? By makingmore significant,
more critical, promises. Promises that
will devastate our hero and secondary characters. Promises they might never recover from.